


the audacity of some arseholes

by gokioh



Series: Kpop One Shots [9]
Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Not K-Pop Idols, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Deaf Character, England (Country), Happy Ending, M/M, Platonic Soulmates, Red String of Fate, Romantic Soulmates, san loves his, they've never met each other, wooyoung hates his soulmate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2020-12-03
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:49:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27711613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gokioh/pseuds/gokioh
Summary: Everyone has a Red String of Fate tied around their wrist that eventually leads them to their soulmate. The more you move your arm in wild gestures and flared spontaneity, the more you tug on your string and make your soulmate's hand move along with yours. Wooyoung's soulmate (wherever in the world they are) just can't seem to stop moving. This has resulted in many accidents and accidentally punching himself in the face. He promises to meet his soulmate and give him hell back.eh, its a really bad description, i promise this is good tho
Relationships: Choi Jongho/Kang Yeosang, Choi San/Jung Wooyoung
Series: Kpop One Shots [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1653256
Comments: 14
Kudos: 115





	1. Chapter 1

Wooyoung fucking hated soulmates, he really did. This wasn’t always a fleeting thought that became an everyday convenience to him, no it wasn’t. Because you never feel your soulmate until you reach roughly the ages of 15-18. Wooyoung just so happened to have been paired with quite literally the most energetic kid he’s probably ever going to have the unfortunate pleasure of meeting. His soulmate was an arsehole and this was proved very early on when Wooyoung managed to bloody punch himself in the nose and bleed in the middle of geography class.

Trust me, no one ever forgets the kid that gets a nosebleed in class, that shit's just inevitable. 

Back to our dramatic little shit of a boy called Jung Wooyoung, who had managed to come back from his last class of the day dripping in a lovely strawberry smoothie. He could hear the fair snort and wheeze that came out of his best friends mouth and turned to face Yeosang, who was oh so casually sitting on his boyfriends lap and laughing at his misery. 

“Soulmate again?” Jongho called, looking at Wooyoung’s appearance and giving the boy a concerned once over. _What a lovely lad_ , Wooyoung honestly thought that at some point he would have to fight Jongho if he’d ever hurt Yeonsang (because that’s just what best friends do y’know?) but no. Jongho was an absolute sweetheart, who could honestly never hurt a fly and Yeosang? Yeah more like the devil incarnate dressed in old sweaters and tweed jackets to mask his evilness. 

“Yes, I promise you I’ll kill the fucker when I see him,” Wooyoung muttered, fully aware of his mother in the kitchen and his little sister probably somewhere in the house ready to call out on his foul language. As if she didn’t swear anyway, they lived in England, all they knew how to talk is by cursing! 

‘ _Give the man some props, he’s making you active if anything,_ ’ Yeosang signed, his shoulders slightly shaking with how fast his hands moved. Jongho squeaked when Yeosang decided to jump from his lap and intricately flopped over the sofa in order to run over to Wooyoung and try to help his friend clean up. Wooyoung’s eyes widened and he quickly stepped away from Yeosang when his right hand flopped in the air and he almost whacked his friend. 

“Jesus! You alright?!” Wooyoung quickly signed back to his friend. 

Jongho watched in amusement as Yeosang sprang and started to karate chop Wooyoung’s one erratic hand. Wooyoung rolled his eyes and continued to walk into the kitchen whilst Yeosang pottered along, trying to punch the latter's arm. 

So let me give you a quick once over on how soulmates work. Essentially, when you’re at the age of 15-18, you can feel a constant connection with your soulmates. A lot of people like to describe this as literally having the Red String of Fate tied around your pinky finger and when your soulmates does a big grand gesture with their dominant hand, then that can cause tugging on their soulmates hand. 

A dangerous thing to do is to physically hold this Red String of Fate, it’s there for sure. Not particularly tied around your pinky finger, more like a light bracelet hanging on your wrist. So light you can forget it’s there, but the danger here is physically taking a hold of it. Centuries ago, when soulmates became too greedy to find their other half, instead of waiting to let Fate match them up naturally, they would tug on the red string and effectively drag their soulmate to them. 

Now if your soulmate is conveniently in the same room as you and you’re dragging them towards yourself, then yeah- sure go for it I guess? But imagine dragging your soulmate to you from across oceans? Yeah… there was a law placed over the banning on using the physical tug unless you were aware of the safety precautions and you’ve already met your soulmate. Because no one likes seeing dragged up dead bodies coming to them.

On that positive note! Back to soulmates and why Wooyoung hates them. Deep down he knew he loved his soulmates… very down, like the deepest, probably darkest part of him still held some love for his soulmate. Another part, the bigger part, wanted to tug his arm and hope that his soulmate somehow slapped them self a little. Like just a little, for revenge. Because Wooyoung did want his soulmate to understand the pain he went through, but he also doesn’t want to be too harsh on the poor lad. 

Wooyoung was probably around 16 when he realised that his soulmate was a dickhead. It seemed like his soulmate did some sort of sport, because at some points during the nights his arm would fly into the air and he would lose sleep. Yeosang suggested that his soulmate was probably a basketball player and then his mother went ahead and commented on badminton and Wooyoung left the room and conversation to die. Because it’s one thing for his soulmate to want to destroy his reputation (Yeosang would argue he had none) and another for them to be a badminton player? What type of boujee mother fu-

“Ahh?!” Wooyoung hissed as his hand hit the edge of the fridge and he groaned. He quickly started waving his right hand in the air erratically so that his soulmate got tugged. “Yeah take that fucker!”

“Language,” his mother called. 

“He made me hit the fridge!?” Wooyoung blamed, rubbing his hand. He turned to Yeosang and pouted, “Yeo-Yeo,” he whimpered. Said bestie rolled his eyes but pulled Wooyoung into a hug and ushered him over to Jongho who snorted and allowed Wooyoung to cuddle up to them. “Fate really went ahead and decided to fuck with me huh?”

***

Wooyoung walked down stairs from his room, feeling much better now that he finally had a good three months summer break from university. He stopped mid step when he noticed who was in the kitchen, “right so just so we’re all clear here, this is my house right?” he asked, giving Yeosang and Jongho judgemental stares.

Yeosang shrugged, pulling his hoodie sleeve up to reveal his hands and stared to sign, ' _you have free food and we’re broke uni students. Have mercy loser.'_ Yeosang was probably glad that he was deaf, because the scandalised gasp and offended noises Wooyoung protruded from his mouth was starting to give Jongho a headache. 

“Oof what happened to you?” he accidentally signed to Jongho, not realising that Yeosang wasn’t paying attention to either of them. 

“We went out drinking to celebrate our summer holiday and well, we all know I’m a bit of lightweight,” Jongho explained. 

“You didn’t invite me?!”

“You were napping!” Jongho quickly excused. 

“I-” Wooyoung shrugged, “fairs but I’m still offended.” 

“...fine, but be offended, quieter please. Everything is very loud and obnoxious,” Jongho hooked an arm around Yeosang’s small waist and guided his boyfriend away from the stove, flipping the eggs himself. “Breakfast? We’re going full English here.”

“Nah,” Wooyoung went to pour himself some cereal when he quickly put the bowl down and his arm started to flair in the air. He furrowed his brows, “huh, they usually don’t do anything this early in the morning?” he peered at his right hand with a scrutinising look before forcefully pulling it down and smirking when it tried to lift up but he made sure it didn’t. 

“WOOYOUNG!” a voice shrieked from the living room, making both Jongho and Wooyoung flinch. Yeosang instinctively flinched himself, looking up and confused at the two. 

' _Hayoon_ ,' they both signed, making Yeosang nod and look back down at his phone. 

“WHAT DO YOU WANT?!” Wooyoung screamed back to his little sister.

“EOMMA SAYS YOU HAVE TO TAKE ME TO THE ATEEZ CONCERT TOMORROW NIGHT!” she screamed back just as fiercely.

Wooyoung groaned and looked up tiredly at Jongho, “how is her voice not gone yet?”

“I say the same thing about you,” Jongho muttered. Yeosang looked up and slapped Jongho with his sleeve, gaining his boyfriends attention to show him a funny video on instagram before turning away and scrolling on his phone. “So, you wanna head out?”

***

“Give me the remote!” Wooyoung shouted, standing in front of the TV whilst also trying to grab his sister’s foot. Her unsuccessful attempts to kick her brother away from the TV just added to the frustration building in her tiny 13 year- old body. 

“FUCKING MOVE!” she screeched.

Wooyoung stilled, as did Jongho and Yeosang (seriously, did they not have a home). Yeosang signed a little ‘ _oh shit, someone’s in trouble…'_ whilst Hayoon looked at her brother in equal shock, tears of fear starting to build. Wooyoung smirked, “EOMMA! HAYOON SAID THE F-WORD!” he quickly ran to the stairs, but Hayoon jumped over the sofa and tackled him to the ground. 

“NO I DIDN'T!” she clamped a hand over Wooyoung’s mouth but forgot that her older brother was a fully grown adult, meaning he could simply stand up and carry her upstairs. So whilst she was on his back and trying to pull him down, he was making his way to the stairs. He didn’t have to climb them because their mother came down looking tired but angry. 

“Both of you shut up. What happened?” 

Hayoon sniffed and jumped off of Wooyoung and stared at her mother guiltily, “Wooyoung won’t let me watch Ateez’s live show. Eomma-”

“She’s literally going to their concert tomorrow. I want to watch TV, I haven’t watched on our TV in months-”

“Oh, so you don’t have a TV set in your apartment at uni?” their mother questioned, walking past the two and ruffling both Yeosang and Jongho’s hair whilst she sat on the sofa herself. 

“Wha- eomma that doesn’t have anything to do with our TV. Which is bigger and has more channels. Let me off, I’m a broke uni student-”

“You have a job,” she muttered, looking at the remote with a questioning glare, “how do you get to the YouTube channel with this thing?”

Hayoon grinned and quickly let her mother know, they both tuned into Ateez’s live show. “Thanks-”

“You’re doing the dishes tonight, Hayoon-ah, no swearing.” 

Wooyoung stared at the two blankly, “what the fuck? When did you start to like the stupid boy group that Hayoon likes?”

“When my only son left me, and they’re not stupid. They’re very good artists, just listen to their music,” his mother hushed Wooyoung and laughed when Yeosang poked her arm. “And my favourite son.” 

“Wha- EOMMA!” 

“Aish, stop screeching like a banshee and sit down. Might as well listen to the group,” Jongho said. Wooyoung grumbled and shoved between his mum and Yeosang. His best friend chuckled quietly and wrapped his arms around Wooyoung’s body, comforting his friend. 

“Oh Yeosang, you are a little shit but it’s these moments we have together that forever remind me why we are bosom buddies, you gorgeous creature, you,” Wooyoung expressed pitifully. 

Yeosang, who could feel Wooyoung talking but couldn’t read his lips, turned to his boyfriend for help. Jongho just stared at Wooyoung in a slightly disturbed manner but shrugged and mouthed a ‘you don’t wanna know’ to Yeosang, returning his attention to the boy group that Wooyoung’s sister, and mother, were infatuated with. 

Wooyoung stared at the five member boy group with a seething; not taking a liking to whoever had pulled his mother away from him. Jongho, he could handle, because as much as Jongho was Yeosang’s boyfriend, he was like Wooyoung’s little brother… who could probably bench lift him, but that’s beside the point.

“Explain who everyone is then,” he asked his sister, trying to remember their names so he could eventually seclude to his room and write them down in his death note book.

“Okay so that’s Hongjoong, he’s the leader and he raps. He’s eomma’s favourite-” Wooyoung arched his brow staring at the leader of Ateez. So that’s who stole his mother from him, good information to know. “-he’s very nice and creative and he likes to be artistic with clothing. Like paint on them and stuff, kind like that phase you had a couple years ago.” Wooyoung furrowed his brows, phase? He’ll have you know, he still paints on everything he owns. There wasn’t an item of clothing that he owned which didn’t have some sort of intricate design on it for fun. 

“This is Yunho, he’s my favourite!” Wooyoung rolled his eyes, he didn’t care if his sister had Yunho, let the boy take her. It would be nice to have a little peace and quiet for once. “He’s a singer and he looks like a golden retriever.” Ah, that makes sense, no wonder his sister liked the man. “This is Mingi, he’s another rapper and he’s the baby of the group. He’s super sweet but has a very deep voice.” Wooyoung stared at the man in question, looking at him with slightly disbelieving eyes, that tall man was the baby of the group? He could probably bench press their leader. 

“This is Seonghwa, he’s the oldest. He’s everyone’s favourite-”

“But I thought your favourite was-”

“I said he’s everyone's favourite alright!” Wooyoung quickly shut his mouth, looking at Seonghwa who seemed to be staring at the set up in the show with childlike wonder… cute. “He’s very innocent but a really good dancer and another vocal.”

“Cool, who’s the last one then.” 

“That’s San, he’s the cutest member, I would argue. Likes plushies and stuff, he’s a good singer and I’m pretty sure the best dancer?”

Wooyoung snorted, “are you sure you know anything about these boys?”

“I just joined Atiny!” she exclaimed.

“A-what?”

“Atiny, the fandom- AHH!” Wooyoung jumped from the sofa and quickly allowed for his stupid String of Fate to tug his right hand around the air. He didn’t care too much about what direction his hand was flaring in the air. What mattered is that when he watched the screen, the boy group in front of him seemed to be dancing in the same direction as his hand. 

Yeosang was the first to notice and sat up, his speech wasn’t as good as most people (he had only been going to speech therapy for two years, since he met Jongho) but he knew enough to whisper a small, amazed, “oh shit...”

Mrs Jung was too shocked to stop Yeosang’s language and stared at her son in amazement. When the song ended and Ateez stopped dancing, Wooyoung let his hand fall in the air along his side but he continued to stare at the screen in astonishment. 

“ _ That was your song HALA HALA am I correct? _ ” the interviewer on screen asked. 

The leader, Hongjoong nodded as the boys sat back in the chairs and returned to the interview. 

“No fucking way,” Wooyoung breathed, looking at the group and then back at the rest of his family. 

“Prove it!” Hayoon stood up on the sofa and quickly sat back down at her mother disapproving glare. 

“What?”

“I said prove it, tug on your hand. See which member is it!” she voiced. 

Wooyoung shook his, “that could have been a coincidence-”

“It wasn’t. I’ve seen enough HALA HALA dance videos to recognise the moves- you’re soulmate is an Ateez member, so prove it,” she said. 

“Wait Hayoon-ah,” their mother said. She stood up and looked at her son with sympathetic eyes, “I know it’s a lot to take in. But it wouldn’t hurt to try right?” she asked. 

Wooyoung looked at Jongho and Yeosang. His best friend, in the entire world had found his soulmate and they were happy together but that- this was different. Wooyoung was a university student living in England and these Ateez members were literal idols from South Korea. The last time he had been in Korea was a little over five years ago- there were too many complications. 

‘It’s going to be okay Wooyoung,’ Yeosang signed. ‘At least you’ll know right?’

Wooyoung nodded, there was that. Whoever they were, wouldn’t know. As selfish as that was, at least they could carry on with their idol life and be happy. Wooyoung turned around and tugged on his right hand slightly, not noticing any difference. 

“I bet it’s Yunho,” his sister said. 

“I’m hoping for Hongjoong, he’s make a good son-in-law-”

“Eomma!” Wooyoung whined. 

“Yeosang says San but I’m hoping for Seonghwa because I know he’s not your type.”

Wooyoung flicked his arm and watched in amazement as San’s right hand flicked like he was being dragged. Wooyoung grinned, unable to contain his excitement, “It’s San. Yeosang was right.” 

Wooyoung then smirked, “actually you know what?” He started to flick his arm more, using powerful movement that had San dragged off his seat. The dancer giggled nervously whilst the crowd and interviewers all laughed. “Yeah take that fucker,” Wooyoung muttered. 

“ _ I’m guessing your soulmate is rather active? _ ” the interviewer asked.

Hongjoong had to translate the English for San but the dancer was quick to laugh and shake his head. Explaining that his soulmate usually never bothered him and retold stories of how he would be in the practise room doing over choreo and how his soulmate would sometimes tug on his arm.

“So that’s what he did! He was dancing this entire time! Wait- then how come this doesn’t happen to other idols?” he whipped his head around to his sister. 

She shrugged, “you know how the tugs have to be exaggerated and I’ve never seen any other group except Ateez that dance as powerfully as they do.”

‘ _You found your soulmate Wooyoungie!_ ’ Yeosang quickly stood up with him and gave his best friend a hug. ‘ _Now what are you going to do?_ ’

Wooyoung smirked and continued to punch the air, watching in amusement as San’s face got redder and how everyone laughed as he tried to complain about the soulmate tug. “Considering I haven’t had a good couple years rest since I’ve had the tug, I’m giving him hell to make up for all the time he’s made me almost punch myself.” 

_ “Ahh my heart, would you please contain yourself,” _ San pleasantly said in Korean to his arm, looking down at his hand with love filling eyes. Wooyoung squeaked, understanding enough Korean to know what his soulmate just said. His mother burst into laughter along with Jongho. Meanwhile Yeosang and Hayoon were left with confusion masking their features, having not understood a word of Korean. 

“Ah, the struggles of not knowing a language.”

Mrs Jung snorted, “well if you ever listened whilst I was giving you lessons-”

***

Wooyoung, Yeosang and Jongho were all stuck in the former’s bedroom at 2 in the morning (Wooyoung suspects that they're homeless now) trying to buy tickets to the Ateez concert. Because now that Wooyoung had actually found out who his soulmate is, there’s no way in hell that he’s not meeting the loser. “There are better ways of getting to him then wasting your life savings on the man,” Jongho hissed, watching Wooyoung buy three bootleg tickets on a sketchy website that was asking for a lot more money than need be to see a rookie idol group have their first ever concert in England. 

“This is a matter of life and death,” Wooyoung signed quickly. Yeosang nodding along. 

“Really, a grand though?” Jongho whispered.

“That is why I added death. I just need to meet him.”

‘ _What will you say?_ ’ Yeosang asked.

Wooyoung looked up from his laptop. “Hmm… I never thought about that. I can understand Korean, but I haven’t spoken it in quite a while…”

“Great,” Jongho muttered.

‘ _You can translate,_ ’ Yeosang signed, looking at his boyfriend as if that solved everything. Poor Jongho, it’s not like he could say no to Yeosang (he tried once, but Yeosang used his deafness to pretend he couldn’t understand Jongho’s lips or his early start to BSL). Wooyoung high fived Yeosang and patted Jongho’s head, who groaned. 

“Come on Jongho, it’s like an adventure. I’m like the protagonist to a book!” 

“One, you don’t even read and two, this is a shitty book then.” 

“Okay… more like a main character on a cheap American sitcom then!”

***

Wooyoung kissed his mother and took his car keys, heading inside and starting his journey to central London. Yeosang and Jongho were sitting in the back and his sister had taken shotgun, plugged in her phone and introduced the rest of the boys to Ateez’s music. This was the one day that Yeosang was wearing his cochlear implants because he was actually going outside and not just vibing in Wooyoung’s childhood home. 

“I need to learn the fanchants, I’ve been practising all week but there’s a few I haven’t got down yet,” his sister muttered.

“What the heck is a fanchant?” Wooyoung asked.

“You’ll know.” Oh and he did, regretting it when he listened to 'Pirate King' for the tenth time trying to perfect the fanchant. Yeosang wanted to try and Wooyoung slightly glared at his friend through the rear view mirror as his sister taught him. When they were in London, they parked by Wooyoung’s apartment and started to walk around the city for a while. Wooyoung kept an eye on his sister whilst Jongho made sure to have a secured arm around Yeosang’s waist, keeping his boyfriend safe. 

“We’ve got a couple hours till the show starts, what do you wanna do?”

“Let’s eat,” she said. Wooyoung shrugged, he knew at least three different streets that lead to some sort of McDonalds so went in that direction.

When it was time to go to the concert Hayoon looked at the three boys in confusion, “why are you guys still here?”

“Oh sis, did I not tell you?” Wooyoung pulled out three tickets from his pocket. “We’re gonna go infiltrate the building and try to find my soulmate,” he shrugged.

His little sister's eyes widened, “don’t! This- this is mine alright. I just want to go to my first concert and have a good time, you’re not ruining that,” she hissed before scanning her ticket and running inside. 

Wooyoung looked at his two friends before shrugging and scanning their tickets inside too. “Well, we’re lucky those actually worked,” he muttered, looking over at the other two. They went inside and walked around, looking at the decor of the venue before they were finally scheduled inside. They couldn't find where Wooyoung’s sister was seated but they were pretty high up. Wooyoung had been to many concerts, Yeosang not as much and Jongho… well this was his first. Evenso, not knowing the artist was fine because their stage presence was no joke and all three boys found themselves enjoying it. 

Wooyoung called his sister once the concert was over and the rest of Atiny were starting to line up for the hi-touch. “Hey are you in the line?” a teenage girl asked.

“Ah no, go ahead,” Wooyoung waved, waiting for his sister to pick. “Where are you?” he demanded over the phone. 

“Literally in front of you,” she said into the phone, waving at him and then running over. “How was the concert for you guys?”

“So good! When they did 'Desire,' ah! It was so cool and I’m pretty sure I saw Wooyoung blush when San-”

“Okay Yeosang!” Wooyoung called, slapping a hand over his best friend's mouth, “no need to blurt out potential blackmail material to my little sister. Anyway, let’s go give these lads their high fives,” he wrapped an arm around his younger sister and then joined the queue. “There’s nothing quite British than everyone automatically creating a queue because we’re just that polite,” he joked, gaining the laughter of a few Atiny’s around him.

Wooyoung watched his sister high five the members and walked behind her, he grinned and gave the boys their high fives whilst they stared at this ‘adult, male, fan’ in surprise. “You like our music?” Hongjoong asked.

“Actually I’m here for this,” Wooyoung raised his right hand, felt around for his String of Fate and grabbed a hold of it. He looked over at San and yanked him harshly. The dancer yelped and tripped up in front of Wooyoung, the latter who caught him around the waist and held him close. 

“ _Hello love_ ,” he whispered in Korean. 

“ _Ah-ah it’s you- you’re my…_ ” San spluttered. 

“ _Yep_ ,” Wooyoung nodded, before gently moving San in his original spot. “See ya!” Wooyoung winked, quickly high fiving a stunned Mingi and walking to catch up with his sister. Yeosang and Jongho laughed as they joined the Jung siblings and they all walked out of the venue. 

“What was that?” Yeosang asked slowly. 

“That my good friend, was me stunning my soulmate… but it was also me giving him a chance. I slipped a piece of paper to tell him to meet me outside, so we’ll see what happens,” he shrugged. 

“You excited?” his sister asked.

“I’m fine with whatever,” he tried to act nonchalant but the others could see his slight nervous ringing on his wrist. He walked outside into the night of the London street and sat down by the building opposite the venue. Jongho sat beside Wooyoung, rubbing his shoulder and Yeosang sat on his boyfriend's lap, holding Wooyoung’s hand. Hayoon sat beside her brother and rested her head on his arm. 

“What are you so scared about?” she asked.

“I guess… I preferred not knowing him. I liked that I could just shout at my hand and pretend that he was just a string tugging on my hand. I don’t know what we’re going to do now… I shouldn’t have told him. I’m not leaving England just for him and I doubt he would leave his dream job just for me so I don’t know what’s going to happen now. That’s what I’m scared about, having absolutely no idea what’s going to happen.”

“You’ll be fine,” Yeosang reassured. “We’re all still here, that’s not going to change… ever.”

“Never ever,” Jongho added. 

Wooyoung nodded to calm himself, just because Fate wanted San and him to be together didn’t mean that he had to listen right? He had people in his lives that he established strong bonds with and just because the universe wanted something for him didn’t mean he was going to follow its course. He had never met San before, so really just because someone said that they were soulmates didn’t necessarily make it true. 

They continued to sit and wait for San (if he was ever going to show up) until every Atiny and their parents had left and the venue slowly closed. Wooyoung was about to tell Jongho to take everyone back to his apartment whilst he waited the rest of the night when rushed footsteps came from around the building. All four of them scrambled from sitting on the ground and watched as San and the rest of Ateez all came running over to them. 

“Manager,” Hongjoong panted finally catching up to them.

“What?” Wooyoung asked.

Jongho started to speak in quick Korean and looked back at the others. Apparently San had ran from the managers and Ateez all followed so they had to be quick. 

“Oh that’s not happening,” Wooyoung grabbed San’s hand and then his sisters and made a break for it. The others all started to follow, “this isn’t kidnapping by the way, I have full intention to bring you lot back!” he quickly said, running along different alleys and cuts throughout London. 

“ _ Where are we going?! _ ” Seonghwa shouted.

“He said where,” Hongjoong translated. 

“Greggs,” Wooyoung said, looking at the small shop and quickly running inside. They all piled inside and greeted the tired workers with apologies. “Jongho, could I?” 

“Yeah sure. Yunho meet Hayoon, big fan. Have you guys ever had a sausage roll before?” 

Wooyoung chuckled and brought San out of the shop, grinning at him, “you came.”

“ _ You don’t speak Korean? _ ” San asked, tilting his head.

Wooyoung smiled guilty, “ _ a little. I can understand more than I can talk. But you came… I thought you wouldn’t. I didn’t know-”  _ Wooyoung was smooshed into San’s chest, the older hugging him tightly. Wooyoung laughed but hugged him back. “ _ I need to tell you that your dancing made me punch myself in the face once. Oh and that I almost got sent out of one of my exams because my arm keep flaring into the air and you just wouldn’t stop. Can’t forget that time I almost gave my nan a heart attack because my hand smashed into her 98th birthday cake last year-”  _ Wooyoung cut off when he heard San laughing. “Hey!” he couldn’t help himself from smiling and let go of San to cup his face, squishing his cheeks together. “ _ You’ve been a nuisance since day one _ ,” he reprimed. 

“ _ Sorry, dance practise,” _ the older said. “ _ I’m just so happy. _ ” 

Wooyoung nodded, “ _ me too. _ ” 


	2. a continuation, but this time it's jongsang's introduction!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm very happy with how much you guys loved the previous one shots that i decided to add another. i'm thinking of possibly just adding different scenarios to this universe when i feel like it or if i'm inspired by certain events.
> 
> today, i give you when yeosang first found out that jongho was his soulmate. this is pre-woosan meeting and i hope you remember enough about how the soulmate tug works because i don't delve further into it in this.

**[pre-woosan meeting. you don't have to read the one shot before this, but it would help if you don't understand how the 'soulmate tug' works]**

There’s a certain type of superiority complex that people (mostly students though) develop when they’re in their second year of something. It’s a perfectly normal ego boost and happens to everyone. Why some would argue that it’s a healthy part of human nature! This superiority complex is shown very well during the second year of school. Like when you’ve graduated from being a teeny, tiny Year 7 student and now you’re a Year 8 know-it-all. Everyone knows the devil children that are Year 8 students. 

They’re not the youngest anymore, they’ve spent a year in the school and know where the classrooms and faculties are. They know exactly what to do when they’re facing a 'dire' situation and usually this ego boost will be looked down upon by Year 9’s and even college students. This complex theory never truly leaves you. Another example of this being done in adult years, is when you’re working in a company, or maybe when you’re married? (that ones a bit of a stretch)

You’ve been working in the company for a year, you know the in’s and out’s. You know what customers are most likely going to say to you, what job your boss needs done before they can even ask and with a years experience, you know enough to train the next employee who’s starting their first year. This superiority complex never truly leaves a person, which is where this story starts now. 

Unintelligibly, this theory doesn’t really dominate the entire story, no- it’s just needed for the introduction. Because something needs to excuse the arseholey behaviour that possesses both Yeosang and Wooyoung when they return from their summer holiday and start their second year at university. Yeosang and Wooyoung have this entire university thing in the bag, they know where their classrooms are. Both boys are pretty sure they got the whole studying thing and newly-developed-independence-that-young-adults-acquire down to a tee. 

Which is exactly why Yeosang, who knows enough about the university, decided to accept himself and Wooyoung to their campus gym. A lot of people go to that gym, it’s very cheap considering their students and they really can’t afford trying to use their student cards to get a small discount on anything. 

Yeosang is pretty adamant on going to a gym and trying to become a little more active in this new year with a fresh start to university. Wooyoung, on the other hand, would much rather crawl into his bed and woefully sleep off the post depression he had gained once he finished a new series off his mother's Netflix account. He didn’t want to be ‘active’ as Yeosang called it, so made it his mission to pout and whine the entire walk over to the gym. 

‘ _ You’re being a baby, we’ll only be an hour anyway,’ _ Yeosang signed, seeing the gym building not too far from where they were walking. He looped his arm around Wooyoung’s and continued to skip along to his friend’s meaningless whining. Wooyoung had signed something back to Yeosang, but the older wasn’t paying attention. He had his gym bag, which really was just a small drawstring bag, strung on one shoulder. It had his and Wooyoung’s change of clothes and their wallets, because they really were unprepared. 

Once inside, they both had to scan in their student cards by the front desk and start to sign sheets about memberships. “This is a whole process Yeo _,”_ Wooyoung complained “Why are we signing so many sheets? Why do I feel like we’re at the dentist- DID YOU BRING ME TO THE DENTIST IN DISGUISE OF A GYM?!” Wooyoung’s hands started to move so crazily, the two were starting to get stares from everyone. There really was no reason for Wooyoung to sign anything, considering Yeosang was wearing his cochlear implants but hey, habits. 

Yeosang bowed his head to politely apologise to everyone staring at them and quickly slapped the backside of his best friend’s head, watching him pout and rub his hair. ‘ _ Stop it and sign the damn sheet. You need the exercise anyway,’ _ Yeosang signed, looking back down at his own sheet. 

Yeosang faintly heard a little gasp but paid his friend no attention as he looked down at the different class provided. Pilates looked interesting, oh there was also yoga. Yeosang started to scribbled down his choices and decided that he would simply use their equipment for the day and head to a few starter classes before fully committing himself for the year. He looked over at Wooyoung who had decided to not write down anything, gaining him an unimpressed look. 

“What? We both know I’ll just do what you do anyway,” he mumbled. 

Yeosang gave his best friend a grin and pulled Wooyoung into a hug before grabbing both papers and nodding a little to the receptionist. He walked into the gym and was immediately hit the smell of sweat and skin, not a very nice aroma.  _ ‘So… how do you wanna do this?’ _ he asked, looking at Wooyoung who was the more confident of the two. 

“I don’t- OH!” Wooyoung stepped back when his arm flared out and pulled him in the same direction a student who was just walking out of the building. Yeosang watched with wide and fearful eyes as everything played out in front of him. Wooyoung tripped on himself, from the force of his soulmate tug and managed to knock right into the student. 

This would have been fine if not for the fact that said student was holding a protein shake. They all stood still, staring at each other before looking back at this student. His protein shake (Yeosang could faintly smell a vanilla essence scent coming from the drink) had spilt all over his top. And from the looks of this kids slightly damp hair, he must have come out of the showers. 

Wooyoung and Yeosang both stared at the drenched protein shake student, looked back at one another and then back at the boy. “Shit I’m so sorry!” Wooyoung immediately cried, quickly slapping down on at the boy’s chest and trying to swat away the mess like it wasn’t liquid and could smear. Yeosang started to sign vigorously what was supposed to be an apology but came out in rather clumped up forms of ‘please don’t kill us.’ Yeosang was so distracted by trying to apologise and staring at the bigger mess that Wooyoung was creating that he never realised his erratic hand movements had tugged the boy’s left hand in the air, the protein shake spilling on the ground. 

“Holy fuck…” Wooyoung whispered, stopping his movements and staring at the boy in shock when he realised his hand had moved in time with Yeosang. “Yeo- it’s- this is-”

Yeosang looked down at the boy’s hand and then up at him, then quickly tugged on his own hand. He stared in amazement as the boy’s left hand followed his movement. Wooyoung spun to Yeosang with a grin ready to celebrate, but that soon vanished when he saw the frightful look on Yeosang’s face. His best friend shook his head and quickly turned to run away. 

“Yeosang!” Wooyoung called, he looked at the boy and then at his best friend. “What’s your name?”

“Jo-Jongho,” the boy stuttered. 

Wooyoung nodded and quickly used the pen he had for the membership sheet to write his number down on Jongho’s hand. “Call me, I need to go after him. Oh sorry about the shirt, my soulmate can be a bit of an arsehole sometimes,” Wooyoung gave Jongho a goodbye nod and ran out of the gym to go after his confusing best friend.

Yeosang had managed to get a good quick run all the way from the gym, back to his and Wooyoung’s shared apartment. He had successfully got the exercise that he wanted, so really he couldn’t complain much. Wooyoung had come back home to find his two other roommates inform him that Yeosang was in their shared room. He nodded and walked inside to find Yeosang curled into bed whilst scrolling through his phone. He tutted and walked over to Yeosang, gently pulling the screen away and patting the boy’s shoulder. 

“Wanna talk about it?”

Yeosang pointed to the bedside table, he had taken his cochlear implants out. Wooyoung nodded and cupped Yeosang’s cheek, “do you want to talk?” he said slowly. Yeosang stared at his lips for a few seconds but shook his head, lipreading was probably going to add to the headache he could feel start to crawl up in his brain. Yeosang went back to mindlessly scrolling through his social media, letting Wooyoung kiss his temple before getting up and leaving. 

The entire week was spent similar to that, Yeosang strung up in his bed and making sure to go to class. He really couldn’t afford to miss a class but he wasn’t happy about it. Everything put him on edge, now that he knew his soulmate was a student at his university he didn’t know where to go and if he’d accidentally bump into the boy. 

At some point Wooyoung had really had enough of trying to play ninja and hide in case someone that remotely looked like Jongho was around. At first he tried to make a game of it, continuously playing the mission impossible theme song in his headphones and pretending to be on a stealth mission, but even he had lost interest. There was no way that Jongho was going to bump into them any time, he would know this because he had been texting the younger. 

At first, Yeosang had felt betrayed that his best friend had blatantly been texting  _ his  _ soulmate. But one look from Wooyoung to tell him that if he really wanted the latter to stop then Yeosang would have to get his act together and talk to the boy himself. So it was a losing situation and Wooyoung continued to talk to the younger one. 

_ ‘Tell me about him,’ _ Yeosang signed one day, shuffling into the living room with little-to-no guilt as if he hadn’t been hauled up in his room for a good week and worrying everybody in the apartment. He crawled on the small sofa and rested his body on Wooyoung’s lap, head resting on a small pillow and gaze unfocused on the smaller TV they all owned. At least they had one, this was considered a luxury. 

“What do you want to know?” Wooyoung asked, scratching lightly at Yeosang’s scalp, making the older feel slightly drowsy. 

Yeosang furrowed his brows, he didn’t want to use his hands and sign, but he hadn’t spoken in a very long time. “Anything,” he whispered, noticing he pronounced the word better than expected. 

Wooyoung nodded and turned away from the TV to stare at Yeosang, “He’s studying creative writing, which is why we haven’t seen him around our side of the campus. He usually works in the creative arts area and this is his first year. He’s a newbie,” Wooyoung chuckled, stroking Yeosang’s hair now. 

“More,” Yeosang whispered. 

“Well… he likes going to the gym. Mostly we talk about you, he really wants to meet you, you know? He’s bloody asked a thousand times but I wouldn’t let him until you said so. He’s left handed, but we know that. He goes to the gym every morning, it’s like a hobby. Can you believe that? He likes to work out? For fun? I think you’ve got a weird one honestly,” Wooyoung joked.

Yeosang gave a small chuckle, feeling a tear slip over his nose. “More.”

“Well… his parents want him to do something better than just creative writing. They don’t mind the whole writing aspect, but they think he could have done better at a publishing company instead of going to university and getting a degree in writing. He really likes writing though and he sent me a bunch of book recommendations but I haven’t planned on telling him that I bloody hate reading so we’ll see where that ends up.” Wooyoung shrugged and turned to looked over at Yeosang’s face, only just realising that his best friend was crying. “Yeosang?!” He shook the older’s shoulder. “Is it something I said?” He let Yeosang sit up and wrapped his arms around the older. “Yeo-yeo what happened?”

_ ‘He’s going to hate me Wooyoung,’ _ Yeosang signed, letting his tears fall and his hands do the talking. 

“Why would you say that? You’re amazing Yeosang!” Wooyoung exclaimed.

_‘No one wants to be soulmates with the deaf kid Wooyoung, he’ll just run away from me-_ ’ Wooyoung grabbed Yeosang’s hands to cut him off. 

“Now you listen to me Kang Yeosang, don’t you dare say stuff like that about yourself. People don’t run away from you, I didn’t and I won’t ever. You’re stuck with me whether you like it or not. Yeosang, you’re smart and my best friend.” Wooyoung tucked Yeosang’s face into his neck and patted his hair softly. “Remember all those times you would help me and the others with learning all those sociology terms? Or how about how many essays I would write during history class and you checked over? Not just anyone would sit and help another student with their essays- and fuck man- we all know how many we had to write back then. You still help me now. Yeosang you’re so generous and loving and he’ll be so glad to be your soulmate. Because I’m glad you’re my brother.” 

Yeosang cried harder, tucking his head into Wooyoung’s shirt and hugging his best friend close. “Love you Woo,” he whispered.

Wooyoung exhaled shakily, “now look what you’ve gone and done. I’m going to cry now and I haven’t even been watching ‘Coco’ this time,” he joked. Yeosang softly laughed and sat back up, wiping his tears shakily. He drew a quick breath whilst Wooyoung patiently waited for the other to slightly calm down. Yeosang signed a quick thank you, there was still a small frown overtaking his face though. One that Wooyoung wanted replaced with his usual smile.

“There’s something still on your mind. Come on tell me, I can read your mind Yeo-yeo. Don’t even try to hide it,” he warned.

‘ _ What if he doesn’t love me?’ _ Yeosang signed, pursing his lips with worry. 

“Well, he doesn’t have to? You know not all soulmates are the romantic kin-”

_ ‘I want to be loved, Wooyoung,’ _ Yeosang signed.

Wooyoung stared at his friend in slight shock. Kang Yeosang, resident ‘independent’ boy, who said that marriage is for economic stability and argued against the need for romantic relationships when platonic soulmates were a thing- is now saying this? “You want to be loved?” Yeosang felt his face heat up and he quickly slapped Wooyoung’s shoulder, eliciting a sharp cry as said victim glared at him. “What the fuck was that for?! Jesus Yeo- all I said was that you want to be-”

Yeosang quickly covered his mouth. He said it once into the universe, it didn’t need to be repeated again. “No more. Forget about what I said,” he slightly slurred. 

Wooyoung furrowed his brows even more at Yeosang’s words. “No, this needs to be talked about. Who are you and what have you done with Yeosang? I thought you said that falling in love is stupid. That your friends and family were all you needed in life? What happened to living on your own and being ‘independent’?” Wooyoung commented.

_ ‘I have a soulmate Wooyoung. But also… I still stick by what I said, marriage is not for love and rather political benefit and economical stability. I will not marry my soulmate and he’ll just have to live with that but I do want to be loved. I just- I’ve always been curious about that stuff. You know, romance.’ _

Wooyoung shook his head, “Yeo you shit on every romantic couple we watch on TV!”

_ ‘To be fair, the TV doesn’t put an accurate representation of healthy relationships. Like Morticia and Gomez from the Addam’s Family.’ _ Yeosang input. 

Wooyoung shrugged, “Okay fair enough. So really, what I’m getting form this is that you should really meet up with Jongho.” 

‘ _ Who?’ _

“Jesus, you don’t even know his name?”

_ ‘Hey! I’ve been busy, it’s not like you told me it anyway!’ _

Wooyoung simply shook his head, “I’ll give you his number, call the poor bloke up and just clear some stuff up, would you?” 

***

Remember that superiority complex thing that was mentioned at the very start of this story? Well Yeosang drew in as much of that ego boost as he could and strode into the same gym he had first met Jongho. His chest was puffed out, he had triple checked on his cochlear implants and gave a swift nod to the receptionists before walking over into the gym and being hit with the same smell as before. 

It was pretty early in the morning and from a quick, discreet, interrogation he held with Wooyoug, he knew that Jongho would probably be there. He had zero courage to actually text Jongho and instead made the elaborate plan to just meet his soulmate and try to talk to him. However, being inside of the gym and being increasingly aware of how much of a thin twig he looked like compared to the beasts of men and women in the gym, he kept his head down and walked with his back pressed along the wall. 

Almost as if he were invisible (really everyone was just busy with their routines to care about who entered the gym) Yeosang made a quick scan of everyone on different equipment until he saw Jongho. Said boy was on a… something? Yeosang had no clue what Jongho was on, but he was using his legs so hey, at least he didn’t skip leg day. _Is that the saying?_ Yeosang thought to himself. _Wow I really don’t have a clue on gym talk. Is there specific terminology to use though? Do they have their own language?_

Yeosang’s thoughts invaded his head until he just was a second year student standing against a wall and daydreaming. Yeosang had internalised an entire conversation about gym talk that eventually turned into a talk about other languages within the English language and was so interested in his internal conversation that he hadn’t noticed a certain someone walk over to him.

“Hey,” Jongho called, waving a hand in front of Yeosang. 

Said boy snapped out of his conversation and gulped when he looked up at Jongho, damn he was shorter. 

“He-hello,” Yeosang said.

“Um… what are you doing here?” Jongho asked.

Yeosang hummed and then dreadfully realised that as much as he knew how to speak, he really hadn’t been in speech therapy for like 10 years. He did not want to sound like a drunk 10 year-old in front of Jongho so instead brought out his phone. _I am here for you_ , he quickly typed in his notes app, giving the phone to Jongho. 

The younger looked over at the message and smiled, “I thought you were going to ignore me forever,” he breathed a sigh of relief. Yeosang instantly felt guilt wash over him; here was Jongho being a nice enough human being and accepting and then there was Yeosang who had ignored him for almost two weeks straight. 

“Sorry,” he said softly, thankful that he pronounced it clearly. 

“Don’t be, do you want to grab breakfast and talk?” Jongho asked. Yeosang nodded and let Jongho lead the way. “You’re lucky I just started my workout so I don’t really need to shower. But can I ask you something?” they both walked out into the breezy English air, this time it was Yeosang leading the way. 

“Yes,” Yeosang said. 

“Why did it take you so long? I mean I knew a bit, Wooyoung did help clear a few things but he didn’t want to give anything away because he didn’t know how much you’d be willing to share,” Jongho explained. 

I needed to sort a few things out, Yeosang typed, showing Jongho his phone. The younger nodded and allowed Yeosang to open the door to a local cafe that sold cheap foods. Yeosang waited for Jongho to pass through the door before they both set off to get some breakfast. Yeosang got some food for Wooyoung, and a little bun for himself, he didn’t know if he could really stomach something down. They both paid for their respective foods and drinks before sitting down in a small, enclosed area. I’m going to tell you the truth, Yeosang wrote, unfolding a bit of the napkin he was given and sliding it over to Jongho. 

Jongho nodded and waited patiently for Yeosang to scribble down a paragraph that essentially explained how he didn’t really care much about soulmates or falling in love, or really living to conform to society's standards of soulmates. He wanted to be independent, craved it since the accident that made him go deaf. How he wanted to be his own person and prove himself ever since. He panicked when he met Jongho, one because he thought the younger would probably flick him with his one finger and Yeosang would already be flown away. 

At this Jongho chuckled, “I don’t go to the gym a lot you know?”

“Wooyoung told me enough,” Yeosang smiled. 

Yeosang continued to explain about how he’s always thought that he could just live his life without his soulmate. He didn’t need another strong platonic bond because Wooyoung was, as the latter phrased it, ‘bosom buddies’ and they would remain that way. No seriously, there was a time that Yeosang tried to get rid of Wooyoung, but the boy remained clingy as heck, so he had no choice but to give in. 

Jongho took everything in stride, completely understanding Yeosang's point of view and why he ultimately tried to hide at first. He was also super appreciative of Yeosang showing up and clearing any misunderstandings? How was this guy just so nice? 

This was probably the first time that Yeosang had started to fall in love with Jongho. He was completely smitten by how nice and genuinely interesting the younger was, although their breakfast was not a date, Yeosang had a feeling that's what it would feel like. 

He had a lot of love to give and Jongho had already, if not knowing, made a small place in Yeosang's heart. The older having already admitted to easily loving anyone who truly gave him the good vibes. 

The two left the cafe with a promise to keep in touch and to try meet up more in the future. Jongho had asked for them to take everything slow in consideration for how new everything was to Yeosang and oh gosh, he was just so sweet?! They did. in fact, take everything slow. Yeosang was going through daily university life with ease after having gone through his first year; he and Wooyoung mentoring Jongho together because goddamn was his first semester into a creative writing course bloody tough as fuck. 

Wooyoung finally became free of Yeosang's passionate social justice rants because Jongho had easily taken the formers place. Actually finding an interest in Yeosang's take on third wave feminism. Really Jongho just liked to play devil's advocate and debate against Yeosang's every point. This proved to help their budding relationship but also frustrated Yeosang on a speech level. 

Yes, Jongho was taking time to attend a BSL society within the university and has started to learn simple phrases. 

("Yeo- he's actually an angel, what the fuck I'm gonna cry."

"Bro, get in line. I think I love him") 

But sometimes Yeosang needed to scream out his points to further emphasise why he was right, you know? So he went back to speech therapy and made a start on talking more. It wasn't like Yeosang didn't know how to speak, for one he didn't speak a lot anyway, always more of a listener. Rather, he just needed to right his pronunciations and become more confident. Both were very patient with one another, mostly it was Jongho.

Taking things slow was weird to Yeosang. Because he never really saw the shift between having a friendship meet up with Wooyoung to suddenly spending a little bit of his part time money to have dinner with Jongho alone. Or when Jongho had gone over to his and Wooyoung's flat to now owning a spare key and spending more time on their sofa then any of the other residents. Since how long had Yeosang been going from sitting on a chair to suddenly always finding Jongho's lap and making himself comfortable on that instead? 

Does he now talk to Jongho about this new development? Does he let it simmer and play around in his head until they eventually end up moving in together, adopting a dog and still haven't asked each other out? Should there even be a label?! Now Yeosang was laying in Jongho's bed and contemplating the idea of labels and labelling in general. Because really a label can lead to long lasting psychologically damaging effects. sometimes it leads to stigmatisation and even if you're labelled with something good like being a 'bright student ' at what point does that label being too much? there's just so much pressure with labels-

Yeosang's thoughts were cut off with the wave of Jongho's hand in his face. He turned his head and stared at the younger who had both taken to talk and try signing at the same time. That way he would practise signing language but in case he got something wrong, Yeosang would lip read. 

"You're really staring off into space. You alright?" 

"Just thinking about labels," Yeosang said, he wasn't wearing his implants so he couldn't hear if he pronounced that correctly. Hopefully he did, but Jongho seemed to get it if the furrow in his brow was anything to go by. 

"What about labels?" Jongho asked. 

Yeosang looked down at the completed work that Jongho did as homework; to critically analyse a piece of text, definitely not fun but more interesting than the business formulas that Yeosang had to memorise. He returned his gaze to Jongho and thought that now was as good a time as any. “what do we label each other?" he questioned. 

Jongho gulped, it didn't go unseen by Yeosang who continued to state at the younger. "We-well what do you want us to be?" Jongho stuttered. 

"I think I'd like to be boyfriends," Yeosang helpfully supplied. 

"oh," Jongho said. Yeosang fought the smirk that was going to come out when he saw how red he was making Jongho. He really did love the rare times when he could make Jongho flustered instead of it being the other way around. "I'd like that," Jongho whispered. 

Yeosang gave a Cheshire-like grin and nodded at Jongho. "I like boyfriends, it's a nice label. I don't like a lot of labels, some a very… like- like they can be complicated," he said softly. 

"well I like boyfriends too," Jongho got up and pushed his books away from him. Yeosang would have to deal with Jongho's messiness at some point but he was much more interested in Jongho climbing into the bed with him. 

"Hello," Yeosang whispered. 

'Hello...' Jongho signed 'boyfriend,' he added. 


End file.
